Packers-Vikings draws largest audience in cable history

The “Monday Night Football” telecast between the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings earned a 14.2 overnight rating, representing ESPN’s highest rating ever and equating to the largest audience in the history of cable television.

The rating translates to 15.1 million homes, surpassing the cable viewership record of 12.9 million for a Dallas-Philadelphia MNF game Sept. 15, 2008. The previous high rating for ESPN was a 14.4 for a Chicago-Minnesota telecast Dec. 6, 1987, the network’s first season televising the NFL.

Meanwhile, Fox’s late afternoon Sunday telecast (Dallas-Denver in most markets) was the top-rated and most-watched program for the week ending Sunday. The 13.1 rating was up slightly from last season’s Week 4 doubleheader game (Dallas-Washington in most of the nation).

The Sunday night game (San Diego-Pittsburgh) on NBC produced an 11.0 final Nielsen rating, up 2 percent from last year’s Week 4 Sunday nighter (Philadelphia-Chicago).

CBS produced an 11.9 overnight rating for its single game Sunday, up 59 percent from a year ago. Fox’s early afternoon Sunday game rated an 8.8 overnight, a 9 percent drop from last season.